Author: derwoodynck

Red Buttes Wilderness Day 4 – Azalea Lake and beyond.

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date November 4, 2015
1 Comment on Red Buttes Wilderness Day 4 – Azalea Lake and beyond.

We woke up early on the final day of our trip and began packing up under a full moon.
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We had been having a great time backpacking but we were also looking forward to our reservations for that night at the Chateau at the Oregon Caves. We said goodbye to Azalea Lake and climbed back up to the saddle between Figurehead Mountain and Buck Peak watching the sun color the clouds as it rose.
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Preston Peak
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It was a beautiful morning as we retraced our route from Monday in reverse. We skipped the .1 mile side trip to Cirque Lake and paused at Sucker Gap for a snack.
Swan Mountain from Sucker Gap
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A little over half a mile beyond Sucker Gap we spotted another pair of hikers making their way up the trail. I don’t know who was more surprised, but we all had shocked looks on our faces. They hadn’t expected to see anyone else on the trails. They were from Medford and on their way up to Sucker Gap and then going to head off-trail up either Swan Mountain or Pyramid Peak. We informed them that they had broken a tie between humans seen and bears making the final 5 to 3 in favor of people. They let us know that they had seen our car at the lower trailhead so we knew it was still waiting for us. We arrived at our car close to 1pm and headed for the Oregon Caves National Monument which was only about 20 miles away.

We arrived before check-in (3pm) so we wandered around the gift shop and had a wonderful lunch in the cafe before picking up our room keys. The Chateau was amazing. Considered one of the “Great Lodges” the six story building was originally built in 1934.
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Lobby
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Our room
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It really felt like we’d gone back in time in the rustic building and immediately felt at home. The Chateau would be closing for the season after the weekend but the staff was very friendly and helpful and dinner in the Chateau Dining Room was excellent. Oh, and Cave Creek flows right through the building which was the icing on the cake. Happy Trails!

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9319235@N02/albums/72157660616631445/with/22658987801/

Tags Azalea Lake, Buck Peak, California, Cave Creek, Figurehead mountain, hiking, Oregon, Oregon Caves National Monument, Pyramid Peak, Red Buttes Wilderness, Sucker Gap, Swan Mountain, The Chateau at the Oregon Caves

California Hiking Klamath Mountains Siskiyou mountains Trip report

Red Buttes Wilderness Day 3 – Echo Lake back to Azalea Lake

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date November 4, 2015
No Comments on Red Buttes Wilderness Day 3 – Echo Lake back to Azalea Lake

It was still raining when we awoke Wednesday morning and we began packing everything we could into our dry sacks. While we were figuring out our strategy on exiting the tent and taking it down, the rain stopped. God had been good and just as the rain began after we had gotten into the tent, it ended just as we were preparing to exit.
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We packed up our wet tent and cooked breakfast then headed away from the lake on the Horse Camp Trail downhill toward the Applegate River. It was the steepest trail of the hike but it was well maintained and easy to follow.
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We were following a ridge down Echo Canyon until the trail veered away to the right to go around the Butte Slide.
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As we passed the slide we descended a series of switchbacks with views of the leftover clouds drifting over the valleys.
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We stopped to watch a hawk who seemed to be just as curious about us as we were of him.
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The vegetation changed as we lost elevation and we began seeing some different trees including Madrones.
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Before reaching the river we arrived at the junction with the Butte Fork Trail which we would take back up to Azalea Lake where we had stayed on our first night. Not surprisingly the trail sign was lying on the ground.
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Now is a good time to mention that we had been using the USFS Red Buttes Wilderness topographic map during the trip. It was the only map I could find covering the area and we had it and our compasses as well as our Gamrin 62s GPS unit. The Garmin was of limited use though due to the fact that we were in California and we do not own the California Map so all it could show us was our elevation and where we were in relation to our earlier tracks and waypoints. We were checking the map often so that we were familiar with our route and any markers to expect along the way. Our markers for the first part of the Butte Fork Trail were a small side creek, passing beneath the Butte Slide, crossing the river near Echo Canyon, and then reentering the Red Buttes Wilderness.

The first side creek was a pleasant surprise as the trail passed between a series of small falls.
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Things began to get interesting soon after the falls as we arrived at Echo Creek. The trail led us straight to the creek instead of down and across the river.
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The trail was hard to see on the other side of the creek but we hopped across the rocks and found it covered in leaves.
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We left Echo creek behind and continued on looking for the river crossing we had been expecting, but instead we came to a wilderness sign.
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We had entered the wilderness on the opposite side of the river from what the map showed. We double and triple checked the map but we were clearly not where the trail on the map was. The trail crossed another side creek which we deemed to be Hello Creek and kept heading up the canyon on the south side of the river.
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As we continued on the trail condition deteriorated. Sections were overgrown and large trees had come down across the trail along the steep canyon hillsides. We climbed over some and under others. A couple of times we had to detour up the steep hillside and crash through a mass of broken limbs to continue on. At one point the trail forked and we headed downhill finally reaching the river near what appeared to be an old campsite. We were hoping that this was the river crossing, but there was no obvious sign of the trail on the far bank nor any way to cross save fording. We returned to the fork and took the left hand fork continuing to encounter numerous downed trees. We hadn’t gotten too far from the campsite when we decided to go back and do a little more searching to see if we couldn’t find away across and possible pick up the trail shown on the map on the north side of the river. As we walked up the river bank a log lying along the hillside on the far bank caught my eye. Looking the area over we could see that it had once been lining a trail but that trail was now washed out leaving a hole on the other side where the trail had been. We now suspected that the trail had been rerouted at some point and that the map had never been updated. We decided to press ahead on the south side of the river hoping that things would improve and we at least would not encounter any obstacles that would make it impossible for us to continue. We could now see sections of the trail on the far hillside lending credence to our reroute theory.

The next marker we would have been looking for after reentering the wilderness was a junction with a trail coming from the Shoofly Trailhead to the north. We had been watching the elevation on our Garmin to give us an idea of where we might be by comparing it to the topo map and we could see we were still at a lower elevation than the trail junction so we were hoping conditions might improve once we made it that far. As we got close to the correct elevation the trail suddenly arrived at a nice bridge spanning the Butte Fork Applegate River.
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We happily crossed the river and were finally on the side we had expected to be on. We noticed a trail that had been blocked off with branches coming from the direction that we would have been coming from had we been on the north side of the river which all but sold us on the reroute theory.

Not far from the bridge we arrived at another trail junction marked only by a small stake with “2 1/4” and an arrow pointing uphill written on it. We initially headed up this path thinking that the other trail was just going to lead down to the river, but Heather had a feeling this was incorrect and her gut instincts are usually right so we turned around and took the left hand fork which turned out to be correct. The other trail must have led up to the Shoofly Trailhead.

We were now on a nice trail that clearly saw more traffic than the section we had just come from. Signs of recent horse travel were evident on the trail and there was a nice little shelter along the way.
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We had been gradually climbing up the valley and were passing Fruit Mountain when we heard some noise ahead and to our right. A mama bear and a cub were racing back up the hillside and disappeared into the forest. We had now seen as many bears (3) as people on the trip.
Fruit Mountain
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Beyond Fruit Mountain our next marker was the one that had most interested us. On the map was the word “Graves” next to the trail at approximately the 4320′ elevation mark. We weren’t sure what we were looking for but it was obvious when we saw it.
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Later we learned that a plane crash in 1945 had claimed the lives of four people, the pilot and his three passengers, a husband and wife and her sister whose graves this was.

After the grave site we recrossed a now much smaller river and climbed to Cedar Basin.
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We relaxed against one of the large cedars before climbing the final .9 miles to Azalea Lake. We had half expected to find the horseback riders whose signs we’d seen on the trail but it was just us at the lake again for the night. We set up camp at the same site as before and watched the sun go down behind the ridge between Figurehead Mountain and Buck Peak.
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Happy Trails!

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9319235@N02/albums/72157660615820905

Tags Azalea Lake, Butte Fork Applegate River, Butte Fork Trail, Butte Slide, California, Cedar basin, Echo Canyon, Echo Creek, Echo Lake, Fruit Mountain, Hello Creek, hiking, Madrone, Shoofly trailhead

California Hiking Klamath Mountains Siskiyou mountains Trip report

Red Buttes Wilderness Day 2 – Azalea Lake to Echo Lake

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date November 3, 2015
4 Comments on Red Buttes Wilderness Day 2 – Azalea Lake to Echo Lake

After a good nights sleep at Azalea Lake we packed up and got ready to hit the trail.
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We followed the Butte Fork Trail from the lake and headed downhill toward Cedar Basin which was .9 miles away.
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At a trail junction in the basin we turned right following a pointer for Fort Goff.
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This trail began climbing gradually through beargrass meadows in a forest that had been impacted by the 2012 Fort Complex Fire.
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After almost a mile and a half we took a side trail to the right to visit Lonesome Lake where we had originally planned on staying the night before. As it turned out much of the area around the lake had been burned by the same fire and there didn’t seem to be many places to set up a tent.
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From Lonesome Lake the trail continued to climb up to the Siskiyou Crest where views extended ahead to the Red Buttes. To Echo Lake, our goal for the day, we would need to make it around the back side of the buttes where we would pick up the Horse Camp Trail and descend a half mile to the lake.
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While looking back at the hillsides above Lonesome Lake I spotted something that looked brown and thought that maybe it was a deer.
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As I was busying zooming in on a rock Heather spotted a bear moving across the rocky slope to the right of were I was looking. She lost it in this clump of trees but I took a picture anyway. There is a suspicious black thing in front of the trees but we couldn’t tell if it was in fact the bear or if it is a piece of burnt wood.
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After crossing over the crest we were now on the Boundary Trail which followed the crest east joining the Pacific Crest Trail on the shoulder of Kangaroo Mountain. The Fort Complex Fire over-swept the entire section of the trail between Lonesome Lake and the PCT as well as a portion of the PCT. This left a lot of burnt trees and some sections of thick brush that has since grown up along the trail.
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The brush was the thickest in the first quarter of a mile or so and then it thinned out some. The trail here was a little tricky to follow so we had to make sure we were paying close attention to it’s location both ahead on the hillside and directly in front of us.
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The views along the trail were great. With very few trees left we could see unobstructed in every direction. It was a cloudy day but they were high enough in the sky to reveal many of NW California’s peaks, most of which we were unfamiliar with.
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Polar Bear Mountain, Preston Peak, and El Capitan
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To the NE were some more familiar peaks.
Mt. McLoughlin
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Mt. Bailey and Mt. Thielsen
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Mt. Thielsen and the peaks around the rim of Crater Lake
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We were also beginning to see more and more interesting rocks along the trail.
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Often we could see the trail further ahead easier than it was to pick out directly in front of us. A good example of this was the trail leading up and around Desolation Peak.
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The trail climbed in a series of switchbacks on the side of Desolation Peak where we were surprised to find some scarlet gilia still in bloom.
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Switchback on Desolation Peak
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After getting around Desolation Peak we got our first look at Mt. Shasta.
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We had passed around Goff Butte, Rattlesnake Mountain, and Desolation Peak and up next was Kangaroo Mountain where we would find the PCT.
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Kangaroo Mountain is made up of the same type of red rock, peridotite, as Red Buttes.
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We met the PCT on the south side of Kangaroo Mountain and took a celebratory break.
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While the Boundary Trail has seen little to no maintenance since the 2012 fire the PCT has been. While we were sitting on a log having a snack we saw our first other humans of the trip. Three members of the Forest Service out on a tree survey were hiking up the PCT and heading back to their vehicle. After a brief conversation they went on and we soon followed heading toward Red Buttes.
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Kangaroo Mountain was by far the widest peak that we’d gone around that day and the backside was an interesting mix of rocks with marble outcrops dotting the red peridotite.
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We arrived at Kangaroo Spring to find the springs dry although there did appear to be some water further offtrail on the downhill side of the PCT.
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Next we passed Lily Pad Lake where several ducks were paddling about.
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We were coming out of the burn area and passing a series of meadows that still held a few wildflowers.
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We popped out of the trees below Red Buttes near Bee Camp.
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A half mile after crossing an old road we arrived at the junction with the Horse Camp Trail and a unique pointer for Echo Lake.
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We took a moment to take in the view then spied the lake below us and began the half mile descent to the lake.
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We turned left at another pointer for Echo Lake before arriving at the pretty little lake.
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We set up out tent and rainfly as the forecast when left had been for a chance of showers Tuesday night and rain on Wednesday.
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No sooner had we gotten settled into the tent when it began to rain. The wind blew and the rain fell all night long. We got what sleep we could wondering what Wednesday would be like and just how wet we were going to get. Happy Trails!

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9319235@N02/albums/7215766058094952

California Hiking Klamath Mountains Klamath/Siskiyou Mountains Oregon Siskiyou mountains Trip report

Red Buttes Wilderness Day 1 – Sucker Creek Trailhead to Azalea Lake

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date November 3, 2015
4 Comments on Red Buttes Wilderness Day 1 – Sucker Creek Trailhead to Azalea Lake

After spending two days in Crescent City, CA hiking in the Redwoods we headed up Highway 199 to the Oregon Caves Highway 46 and drove to the Sucker Creek Trailhead. We were planning on spending 4 days and 3 nights backpacking in the Red Buttes Wilderness. The wilderness was established in 1984 and encompasses 20,323 acres mostly in California but with some of that area located in Oregon. Running through the wilderness is the crest of the Siskiyou Mountains which include some of the oldest rocks in the region. These began as ocean bottom sediments eventually becoming metamorphic rock uplifted by the North American Plate scraping the ocean floor as it drifted westward across the Pacific Plate.

The trailhead sign was set back behind some vegetation and at an angle such that we missed it the first time by and very nearly did the same as we came back down the road, luckily my wife spotted it just before we drove past again.
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The trip had a real wilderness feeling to it right from the start. The trail had the appearance of a less traveled path and the trail signs we did see seemed to have been there for decades.
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There were also a few downed trees to navigate our way around or over.
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After about 2 miles of climbing we entered a series of meadows where the tread became faint.
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Just under 3 miles along the trail we spotted the Sucker Creek Shelter in a meadow below us to the left of the trail. We followed a fairly steep path down to the shelter to check it out and take a short rest before continuing on to Sucker Gap.
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Sucker Gap is located at a saddle on a wide ridge with a four way trail junction. We followed the pointer for Steve Fork.
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Two tenths of a mile beyond Sucker Gap we took a 100 yard side trail to our right and visited Cirque Lake.
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Beyond Cirque Lake the trail began a 2 mile descent to a trail junction where we would head back uphill on the far side of the valley to the Azalea Lake/Fir Glade Trail.
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We climbed back up out of the valley only to once again begin descending down the opposite side of a ridge. The vegetation was vastly different on this side of the ridge with plenty of manzanita bushes making up the majority of the underbrush.
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We even spotted a butterfly in the area.
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We switchbacked downhill for a bit before reaching the junction with the Azalea Lake/Fir Glade Trail where we again took a right.
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The Azalea Lake Trail climbed to a pass with some great views above Phantom Meadows.
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After passing around the south ridge of Buck Peak we got even better views including Azalea Lake, Mt. McLoughlin, and our first views of Red Buttes.
Azalea Lake and Mt. McLoughlin in the distance
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Red Buttes, Kangaroo Mountain, and Desolation Peak from left to right.
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We followed the trail down to Azalea Lake and headed around the west side of the lake where the designated hiker camps are. (Horse camps or on the east side.) We hadn’t originally planned on staying at Azalea Lake and had intended to continue on to Lonesome Lake which was another 2.3 miles away, but we were running late and after taking a wrong path leading away from one of the campsites we decided to call it a day and set up camp.
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Figurehead Mountain
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It turned out to be a great decision. The lake was very peaceful with small fish occasionally jumping and the pine needle covered ground made for the most comfortable night we’d spent in the tent. It had been 13.1 miles from the trailhead to the lake including our little side trips and we hadn’t seen another person all day. What we had been seeing was a lot of poop, more specifically bear poop but we hadn’t spotted any that day. We went to bed tired but relaxed wondering what the next day’s trails would bring. Happy Trails!

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9319235@N02/albums/72157660604852831

Tags Azalea Lake, Azalea lake Trail, California, cirque lake, Desolation Peak, Fir Glade Trail, hiking, Kangaroo Mountain, Lonesome Lake, Mt. Mcloughlin, Oregon, Oregon Caves Highway, Red Buttes, Red Buttes Wilderness, Steve Fork Trail, Sucker Creek Shelter, Sucker Creek Trail, Sucker Gap

California Hiking Northern California Coast Trip report

Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park – Stout Grove and Boy Scout Tree

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date November 2, 2015
2 Comments on Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park – Stout Grove and Boy Scout Tree

On the second day of our vacation we woke up to rain which seemed fitting since our hike for the day was going to be in the rain forest of Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park. We decided to start our hike at Stout Memorial Grove and planned on combining several trails leading us past Boy Scout Tree to Fern Falls and back.
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We started off on the .5 mile loop through the trees of Stout Grove.
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We once again found ourselves confused when we arrived at the Smith River where we couldn’t see a clear trail on the far side of Mill Creek. We had not brought our guide book due to the heavy rain and neither of us could remember from looking at the map at the trailhead where exactly the Mill Creek Trail was supposed to be. After following a faint path into the brush and deciding that was wrong we returned to the trailhead and reviewed the map where we realized that we needed to cross Mill Creek near it’s confluence with the Smith River. A bridge is placed over Mill Creek during the summer but had been taken down for the year so we were left to cross on what we refer to as a “hiker” bridge, typically a jumble of small logs and other pieces of wood.
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Once we crossed Mill Creek we easily spotted the continuation of the trail and the well marked Mill Creek Trail junction.
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It was nearly 4 miles from the Mill Creek Crossing to the Boy Scout Tree Trailhead. We could have driven to it on Howland Hill Rd but where is the adventure in that? The sights along the Mill Creek Trail were well worth the extra walking.
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When we reached Howland Hill Road we road walked for about a quarter mile to the Boy Scout Tree Trailhead.
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Had we had a current map with us we would have known that we could have avoided much of the road walk by continuing on the Mill Creek Trail as it recrossed the road twice more before the Boy Scout Tree Trail. The redwoods were magnificent along the Boy Scout Tree Trail but we also had to look down along the way as there were other, smaller sights to see in the forest.
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We took the short, unmarked, side trail to Boy Scout Tree at the 2.4 mile mark of the Boy Scout Tree Trail where we found the massive tree.
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The trail continued another half mile to the small but pretty Fern Falls.
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The rain was letting up as we began our return hike and it seemed to bring out the wildlife which we hadn’t seen much of yet.
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By the time we’d made it back to the Smith River the rain had stopped and the clouds began to break up.
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It had been a long hike, 15.4 miles, but we were glad we chose to hike the Mill Creek Trail instead of driving between the two trailheads. After all we don’t get to see redwoods everyday. Happy Trails!

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9319235@N02/albums/72157660602039241/with/22625742012/

Tags Boy Scout Tree, Boy Scout Tree Trail, California, Fern Falls, hiking, Howland Hill Road, Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, Mill Creek, Mill Creek Trail, Redwoods, Smith River, Stout Grove

California Hiking Northern California Coast Trip report

Crescent City Harbor and Damnation Creek

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date November 2, 2015
3 Comments on Crescent City Harbor and Damnation Creek

It has been awhile since our last post but we’ve been away on vacation piling up a backlog of hikes. This vacation was our last hurrah of our hiking season and also an early celebration of our 20th anniversary. We kicked things off on Saturday by driving down to Crescent City, CA where we planned on staying two nights. After checking into our hotel we decided to walk along the harbor out to Whaler Island, which is a Del Norte island that was permanently attached to the mainland by a quarry operation.

As we walked along the harbor we were entertained by a number of different animals.
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At the far end of the Harbor we followed a path up to the top of rocky Whaler Island for some nice views of the surrounding area as well as a few small tide pools.
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Battery Point Lighthouse
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There were also a few wildflowers still blooming on amid the rocks.
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After returning to the hotel we hopped in our car and headed 10 miles south on Highway 101 to the Damnation Creek Trailhead in the Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park. Our plan was to hike 2.2 miles down to the rocky beach for the sunset, but things began to unravel a bit as soon as we arrived at the trailhead.
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We weren’t sure what exactly was meant by bridge failure but we decided to go ahead and hike as far as we could. We would still get to hike through some redwoods and we thought we still might be able to get down to the beach with a little extra effort. I hadn’t been in the redwoods since I was a child and this was Heather’s first visit so we were excited to get our first up close views of the giant trees.
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Our next hiccup came when we reached an unsigned trail junction that neither of us clearly recalled from the map (which we left in the car). We initially turned left which wound up being the wrong way and wound up on the Coastal Trail. We realized our mistake after about a quarter mile and turned around returning to the unsigned junction. In the meantime we had spotted some very colorful mushrooms.
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Back at the junction we went the other way and quickly arrived at another junction complete with signs.
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We took note of the second bridge failure sign and sallied forth. The trail began descending more rapidly and we entered the Tsunami Hazard Zone.
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We knew there were two bridges along the trail so we were curious about which one had failed. When we arrived at the first bridge we found it to be in good shape.
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Now we knew it was the second bridge that had the issue so the only question was whether we could find away to continue on the trail beyond it. When we spotted the second bridge we were surprised to find the only issue was there were no railings.
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We crossed the bridge and continued on leaving the forest behind and entering a meadow above the ocean.
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Our guide book had said there was a path down to the creek and rocky beach located in the north end of the meadow which we easily found.
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The path brought us to the edge of Damnation Creek.
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It was just past low tide when we arrived on the beach which allowed us to explore the tide pools.
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The tide pools weren’t the only source of wildlife viewing as numerous seabirds were flying about and sitting on the many rocks visible out in the ocean.
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Our final mistake was actually our first mistake in that we hadn’t brought our headlamps with us so we didn’t feel comfortable staying for the full sunset not wanting to hike back uphill in the dark. We reluctently headed back toward the trailhead watching the beautiful sunset over our shoulders.
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It hadn’t been a perfectly executed start to our vacation, but it had been a great day and we were excited to see what the rest of the week had to offer. Happy Trails!

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9319235@N02/albums/72157660179257590

Tags Batter Point Lighthouse, California, Coastal Trail, Crescent City, Damnation Creek, Del Norte Redwoods State Park, hiking, Redwoods, Tide pools, Whaler Island

Hiking Middle Santiam Old Cascades Oregon Trip report

Gordon Lakes Trail

We continued our recent trend of choosing our hikes based on the weather forecast and wound up picking the Gordon Lakes Trail for our most recent hike. We chose this trail because it stayed mostly in the forest with very limited view opportunities that wouldn’t be spoiled by the rainy forecast. The Gordon Lakes Trail covers a little over 7 miles between eastern and western trailheads. We began our hike at the west trailhead located on Forest Service Road 325 outside of Sweet Home. There was some disagreement on how to reach road 325 between our field guide, the Forest Service, and Google Maps. They all agreed that from Sweet Home we needed to drive Highway 20 east 19 miles to milepost 46 and turn right on a forest service road for approximately 5 miles. Our field guide gave this road the number 2031 while the Forest Service numbered it 2044. Google Maps showed 2032 as the number which was the number we found on the stake as we turned onto this road. We managed to follow this winding road fairly easily to a hiker symbol on the right across from road 325. The signless parking area was 100 yards uphill to the left on road 325.
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Our next bit of confusion came as we got ready to set off. There were no signs indicating the location of the trail. Two old roads led off from the parking area in the same general direction, one downhill and the other uphill and the hiker sign was back downhill across road 2032. The road leading uphill looked like it was a trail, but the map I had looked at for the trail appeared to show a trail switchbacking downhill from the trailhead which I later realized was my misreading the topographic map. After several minutes of exploring the uphill road and consulting the GPS we decided that it was in fact the trail and began climbing.
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The trail left the road behind and began switchbacking uphill through a previously logged area where we could see a little of the valley below.
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Thimbleberry leaves lined the path with color.
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After the switchbacks the trail entered older forest and crossed a pair of roads where there were still no signs indicating where or what the trail was.
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The first feature we were looking for was Falls Creek which the trail would parallel much of the way. There wasn’t much water in the creek but it was still pleasant and the fall colors and various mushrooms and fungi along the trail made it feel very much like Autumn.
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We finally saw our first trail signs right around the 3.5 mile mark at a junciton.
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Shortly after the first junction we came to a second junction at the edge of Gordon Meadows.
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Described as “marshy” in our field guide the meadows were much larger than we had expected. Being late in such a dry year the meadows seemed rather dry as we passed by on the trail.
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The trail had been climbing very gradually since leaving the switchbacks behind near the beginning of the hike but we began encountering some steeper climbs beyond the meadows. The trail climbed up and over a series of ridge ends as we headed for Gordon Lakes. Just over 3 miles from Gordon Meadows we arrived at a fork in the trail near the lakes.
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The signs pointed us toward the right hand fork while the GPS unit showed the left hand fork as the official trail. We went right following the signs to the northern Gordon Lake.
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The rain that had been in the forecast had not materialized and we were enjoying some sun breaks in the clouds as the trail crossed the small outlet creek that flowed down into the lower southern lake.
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We spent a little time on a log at the edge of the lake watching dragonflies zoom about.
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After having a snack we left the northern lake and passing over the ridge between the two lakes and heading down toward the southern lake.
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We crossed the creek between the lakes and picked up the trail shown on our Garmin on the opposite side.
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We followed the path uphill where we discovered that there were a few downed trees across the trail which may have been why the signs had pointed to the other fork of the trail, but we made our way past the blowdown and climbed back up to the fork. We headed back making our way over the ridge ends, past Gordon Meadows, and started back down the switchbacks. We still hadn’t experienced any rain but the clouds in the valley were on the move.
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It finally started to rain when we were back on the old roadbed heading down to the parking area less than 5 minutes away. Our total mileage clocked in at 15.4 miles, but Gordon Lakes can be reached from the eastern end of the trail in less than half a mile by starting at the trailhead on Forest Service Road 230. Happy Trails!

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9319235@N02/albums/72157659570476059

Tags falls creek, gordon lakes, gordon lakes trail, gordon meadows, hiking, Oregon, sweet home

Bull of the Woods/Opal Creek Hiking Old Cascades Oregon Trip report

Dickey Creek Trail

Once again the weather wasn’t cooperating with our overnight plans so we turned to plan B for our latest hike. Plan B wound up being the Dickey Creek Trail in the Bull of the Woods Wilderness on what turned out to be a great hike on a beautiful day. We began our hike at the Dickey Creek Trailhead located in forest service road 140 near Ripplebrook, OR.
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The Dickey Creek Trail followed a decommissioned road for about half a mile to the former trailhead parking area.
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The trail continued to follow the old roadbed for .3 miles and then suddenly heads downhill.
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The descent was steep for the next half mile and included several sections of steps. It was one of the most fun sections of trail we’ve been on as it twisted and turned on it’s way down toward the creek. When the trail leveled out we were within earshot of the creek but the trail remained in the forest with the creek out of sight. The old growth forest in the valley was beautiful. Green moss carpeted the ground while large trees towered above. Rough skinned newts seemed to be everywhere and we had to step carefully to make sure we didn’t harm any.
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The old growth forest briefly opened up near a dry pond. The fall colors were on display around the pond and made a nice contrast to the green ground left over from where the pond water had been.
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We arrived at the bridgeless crossing of Dickey Creek after almost 3.5 miles.
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On the far side of the creek we spotted some interesting fungi.
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We were heading for Big Slide Lake which was a little over 2.5 miles from Dickey Creek. From there we would decide whether we would continue on to Big Slide Mountain or turnaround depending on how clear the skies were. After a few switchbacks the trail climbed gradually up the valley toward the lake. Views opened up across the valley to North and South Dickey Peak. Ahead were the cliffs of Big Slide Mountain and the lookout tower on Bull of the Woods, the wilderness’s namesake.
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After crossing a large rock field the trail split. We headed downhill to the right to visit Big Slide Lake where we encountered the only other people we’d see the entire day.
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It was approximately 6 miles to Big Slide Lake from the trailhead so turning around here would have made for a decent enough hike, but the weather was great and there were only a few clouds in the sky so we decided to head up to Big Slide Mountain to see how the view was. We climbed back up to the Dickey Creek Trail from the lake and continued uphill toward a saddle on the ridge between Bull of the Woods and Big Slide Mountain. After about a half mile of good climbing we arrived at the saddle and a trail junction.
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We turned left past a nearly dry pond.
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On the far side of the pond was a second trail junction. We stayed to the left on trail 555 and began to gradually climb Big Slide Mountain. Views opened up almost immediately on this section of trail. Mount Jefferson was the first of the Cascade peaks to come into view.
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Followed by Three Fingered Jack.
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Then came Broken Top, Mt. Washington, and the North and Middle Sisters.
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Finally the South Sister made an appearance.
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After almost a mile and a half of climbing the trail crested at a saddle between the summit of Big Slide Mountain and Knob Peak. The trail then headed over the saddle and downhill to its end at Lake Lenore a half mile away. In order to get to the summit of Big Slide Mountain we needed to do some cross country climbing. From the saddle we headed uphill along the ridge toward the summit making our way up as best we could. We managed to find sections of faint trail and pick our way up the rocky slope to the summit. The views from the summit were great. Big Slide Lake lay below us to the West.
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To the North was Lake Lenore, Schriner Peak, Mt. Hood, and the shy Mt. Adams.
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To the southeast cascade peaks dotted the horizon while Welcome Lakes lay below in the wilderness.
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The peaks of the Bull of the Woods Wilderness rose to the south including Battle Ax and Bull of the Woods.
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Table Rock rose above the Table Rock Wilderness to the southwest.
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We took a long break on the summit watching the clouds in the sky and soaking in the sun before heading back downhill. On the way back we had one final stop to make. We wanted to check out an unnamed lake that lay off-trail below Big Slide Mountain. A short steep climb through some thick rhododendron bushes brought us to the edge of the small lake.
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The water was crystal clear with some excellent reflections of Big Slide Mountain.
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After fighting our way back through the rhododendrons we regained the trail. On our way back we stopped to check out a few interesting mushrooms, one complete with a newt.
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When we arrived back at the dry pond the sunlight was lighting up the deciduous trees.
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As we neared the end of our hike the only disappointment was having not seen a wilderness sign that morning. I try and get a picture of a wilderness sign for every wilderness we visit and I had been unsuccessful on our first two visits to the Bull of the Woods Wilderness. After making the steep climb away from the creek and back up to the old roadbed we began watching for signs that we may have missed on our way by earlier. Just before reaching the former trailhead we spotted the sign up on a tree.
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It was a great end to a great hike. Happy Trails!

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9319235@N02/albums/72157659338785890

Tags Battle Ax, Big Slide Lake, Big Slide Mountain, Bull of the Woods, Bull of the Woods Lookout, Bull of the Woods Wilderness, Dickey Creek, Dickey Creek Trail, hiking, Lake Lenore, Mt. Hood, Mt. Jefferson, Oregon, rough skinned newt, table rock, Weclome Lakes

Columbia River Gorge South Hiking Oregon Trip report

Indian Point and Pacific Crest Falls

Post author By derwoodynck
Post date October 8, 2015
3 Comments on Indian Point and Pacific Crest Falls

My Grandmother recently celebrated her 91st birthday and we wanted to take her out for a birthday dinner in Portland so we planned a trip up to the Columbia River Gorge to check another of the many area hikes off our to-do list. We chose a pair of hikes beginning at the same trailhead for the Herman Creek Trail.

Our plan was to start at the Herman Creek Campground near Cascade Locks visiting Pacific Crest Falls and then hiking out to Indian Point. We set off on the Herman Creek Trail and followed it for .6 miles to a fork where we headed right on the Herman Bridge Trail toward the Pacific Crest Trail.
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The Herman Bridge Trail descended .4 miles to a footbrdige over Herman Creek. This was the only place that we would encounter the creek on the trails.
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We reached the Pacific Crest trail in another .8 miles passing through some nice forest and getting some decent views.
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The views improved after we turned right on the PCT with Table Mountain and Greanleaf Peak visible across the river.
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Greenleaf Peak
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Table Mountain
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We weren’t sure what we would find when we arrived at Pacific Crest Falls just .4 miles up the PCT. It was October in an unusually dry year so we weren’t too surprised when we arrived at a nearly dry creek bed. We couldn’t see the falls as we approached but we could hear them up the narrow canyon. From the far side of the creek we could see the two tiered fall back in the canyon and we decided to scramble up the creek bed for a closer look.
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Despite there not being much water the musical sound of the cascade was relaxing. As we were making our way back from the falls we spotted a frog that really blended in with the fallen leaves.
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We had gone a little under 4 miles when we arrived back at the fork with the Herman Creek Trail which is why we had made Indian Point our second goal for the day. We took the Herman Creek Trail uphill toward a large trail junction .7 miles away.
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Several trails arrived at the trail junction near Herman Camp. The left hand trail was the Gorge Trail which led to Wyeth while the right hand trail was the continuation of the Herman Creek Trail. We took the Gorton Creek trail which was the middle trail .
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This trail climbed gradually offering occasional glimpses across the Columbia River to Washington.
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Along the way we had a momentary standoff on the trail with a rough skinned newt that wasn’t about to budge.
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We arrived at the Ridge Cutoff Trail after 2.6 miles which we would take for a loop back to the junction near Herman Camp, but before heading uphill on that trail we continued a short distance on the Gorton Creek Trail to an unsigned path on the left.
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The side path led steeply downhill to a ridge which we followed out to a rocky saddle below Indian Point.
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Several prominent landmarks were visible from the saddle.
Wind and Dog Mountians
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Mt. Adams
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Mt. St. Helens
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We declared victory at the end of the saddle directly below Indian Point and enjoyed a surprisingly wind free break before climbing back up to the Gorton Creek Trail. We then returned to the Ridge Cutoff Trail and headed uphill toward the Nick Eaton Ridge Trial. The cutoff trail climbed for a bit then leveled off before reaching the Nick Eaton Trail in a total of .6 miles.
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We turned right on the Nick Eaton Ridge Trail and continued our loop heading downhill at an impressive clip. The trail popped out into some grassy hillside meadows before beginning a series of unrelentingly steep switchbacks.
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It quickly became obvious why our guidebook recommended doing the loop clockwise as we descended the seemingly never ending switchbacks. After two miles of downhill hiking we arrived back at the Herman Creek Trail just a few hundred yards from Herman Camp. After retracing our steps back to the trailhead we drove to Grandma’s house ending our day with a nice visit and dinner. Happy Trails!

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9319235@N02/albums/72157659046209928

Tags Columbia River Gorge South, dog mountain, Gorton Creek Trail, herman camp, Herman creek, Herman Creek Campground, hiking, Indian Point, Nick eaton Ridge Trail, Oregon, Pacific Crest Falls, Pacific Crest Trail, Wind Mountain, wyeth

High Cascades Hiking Mt. Jefferson Area Oregon Trip report

Maxwell Butte

We were once again heading to Central Oregon this past weekend and wanted to get a hike in on our way there. After checking the weather forecast we chose Maxwell Butte hoping to get a close up look at Three Fingered Jack as well as views of Mt. Jefferson and the Three Sisters. I had checked the forecast Friday morning and it called for mostly sunny skies which sounded promising, but I made the mistake of not rechecking one final time before leaving home Saturday morning.

We had already driven through a good deal of rain and were hoping that we might get above the clouds by the time we reached the Maxwell Butte Sno-park near milepost 79 on Highway 20. We were staring up at a very grey sky when we did finally arrive at the park which left us with holding out hope that the 6229′ summit might be enough higher to break above the clouds.
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We had parked close to the entrance of the sno-park near the restrooms and walked east across the paved parking lot to a gravel road which led to the official Maxwell Butte Trailhead.
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Low clouds and light rain persisted as we followed the trail into the Mt. Jefferson Wilderness.
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After traveling just under 3 miles we arrived at a trail junction near Twin Lakes.
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Before turning right onto the continuation of the Maxwell Butte Trail we took a look at Twin Lakes. The map on our GPS unit showed a single body of water instead of a pair of lakes as the name would suggest so we were interested to see what we would find. The first thing we came to was a dried up area which looked as though it was often connected to a larger area of water we saw did still contain some water.
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There was a second smaller body of water nearby which looked as though it might be its own lake most of the time. We decided this must be the reason for the Twin Lakes moniker.
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We were still holding out hope that we would either climb above the clouds or they would start to break up as we began to follow the trail up Maxwell Butte. Colorful rocks told of the volcanic history of this butte and we passed numerous meadows along its slopes.
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We were on the lookout for deer in the meadows as we were seeing many tracks along the trail but we never spotted any. We did startle a pair of grouse who in turn startled us as the flew off down the hillside. We arrived at the summit to find only the site of the former lookout firmly in the clouds. This hike was going to be put on the redo list, but in the meantime we took a nice peaceful break at the summit.
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It turned out to be a nice hike despite not getting the views we had hoped for. The forest was peaceful and full of fall colors.
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The highlight of the hike wound up being a varied thrush that actually stayed put in the open long enough for me to get a few decent pictures.
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We see them fairly often on our hikes but they are shy birds who usually retreat deeper into the forest or underbrush as we approach. On top of that they are darkly colored making it that much harder to get a clear picture when they tend to stick to darker forest settings.

After returning to the car we continued over Santiam Pass and down into Central Oregon where we finally found our mostly sunny skies and mountain views. Maybe next time we’ll get them from the trail. Happy Trails!

Flicker: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9319235@N02/albums/72157658753707059

Tags hiking, maxwell butte, maxwell butte sno-park, Mt. Jefferson Wilderness, Oregon, santiam pass, Twin Lakes, varied thrush